


For the Future

by Calesvol



Category: Final Fantasy XV
Genre: Canon Universe, Fluff, M/M, Pre-Canon, Unresolved Romantic Tension
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-25
Updated: 2018-04-25
Packaged: 2019-04-27 14:47:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 931
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14427750
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Calesvol/pseuds/Calesvol
Summary: It’s the eve before Gilgamesh and Ardyn are destined to set forth with Somnus and the Oracle. Though they share apprehensions, they also share hope and each other’s company.





	For the Future

Warning(s): G, none

* * *

It was something that often remained unsaid in the early days of the festivals celebrating the spring equinox. It was often seen as the time when Ifrit’s love for the Glacian warmed the cold of the earth, biting through the thaw and kissing it tender and warm. On a terraced hill that overlooked the river valley that plunged the slopes of Ancyra, Solheim’s capital, Gilgamesh saw through the warrior and could understand why poets devoted their mad romance to nature, to the sky. The minarets of Ifrit’s temples rose like blossoms yet to bloom, stark in shadow whilst domes and spires otherwise capitalized the skyline. Olive groves grew at their feet, seated atop the crest of a hill gnarled by tough grasses and lulled by the rich, vivid flame of the sunset and the sea-swept spices that dominated the myriad bazaars of the thoroughfares below.

 

How he loved their beloved city, even if Gilgamesh’s home was over a thousand years gone.

 

“Perhaps I should have brought a sketchbook of some sort, old friend. It would seem Ifrit’s beloved sun begs to be painted,” Ardyn mused over a clear glass of Arak, the opaque liquid sluiced down his throat as he took a generous swig of the spirits. Ardyn always had been of the more celebratory sort. Ardyn then sighed dramatically when he finished. “Unless you’d rather spiel on your beloved blades. Never one for relaxation, are you?”

 

Despite it, Gilgamesh still smiled. “I have seen thousands upon thousands of sunsets, Ardyn _Emir_. Would it be so unusual that I have not slowed to truly savor them in a dozen lifetimes?” The Shield turned to his prince, a smile tugged over his coppery, handsome complexion.

 

“Always the romantic,” Ardyn drawled in a tease, alighting upon their small plate of Ancyran Delight and popping a few within his mouth. He always had been a ravenous sweet tooth. “I wonder if you’re exaggerating.”

 

“I am not,” Gilgamesh admitted honestly, scarlet eyes narrowing some at the horizon. The very same like his lord father, the Draconian. “War mars the sunset, the sunrises a herald a doomed day ahead. What draws such comfort only becomes a reminder of war’s fire, of upcoming and incomprehensible dread.”

 

They were fortunate. Ancyra, a coastal city, was located on a strait barely a mile from sight of Altissia itself, and the island nation of Accordo. The city across the bay was but blots of light and sharp silhouettes like Ancyra, but it seemed that their celebrations were no less diminished. It struck them both, then. The utter, terrible fragility of the Star and what their calling would come to see them do. Surrounded so much beauty, of Lucian junks illuminated prettily by paper lanterns, it almost made the reality of the Starscourge a forgotten truth of the world. Gilgamesh glance down at Ardyn, the mortal having paused in gaily imbibing his drink, expression grim and drawn.

 

The Shield appeared indecisive for a moment, a hand then moving to slip over Ardyn’s, almost embed into the sandstone shelf they perched upon over the dark waters. The red-head started slightly as he threw a bewildered look to Gilgamesh, at those locks of silver that seemed to refract the sunlight like crystal.

 

“Gentiana and Somnus shall join us ‘ere morn, will they not?” Ardyn suddenly broke the silence, but not the contact between their hands. The Oracle and his brother had agreed to doing so months ago, after all. The contact of gazes ceased, turning again upon the horizon that threw rays of light from its hoard of fiery gold upon them, lengthening shadows long as they dare go towards the night. A grim reminder of what was to come, of what might change between all of them.

 

“Yes, they shall, my liege,” Gilgamesh responded officiously, then clasping his hand tightly over Ardyn’s, a smile alighting to his face. “What do you expect from our journey? Do you truly believe it will only beget sorrow?”

 

Ardyn seemed taken aback by the suddenness of his question. “I’m afraid I was unaware of the amusing nature of curing the infirm and dying,” he said with a quirked brow. Even if he was certain he knew where Gilgamesh was going with it. Finding hope in the darkness where it might not otherwise be.

 

“No, not that,” Gilgamesh recovered without missing a beat. “I speak of the adventure we might encounter along the way. Of fables told over campfire, the peoples we shall encounter, the challenges and foes we shall surmount. Doesn’t that excite you?”

 

Ardyn appeared dubious, but thoughtful. Perhaps seeing into his friend’s own visions for the road ahead, of what could await them in a world beyond. Even Ardyn and his brother had seldom left their home in Lucis, that fledgling kingdom just awakening from its own sleep. As Tenebrae and Accordo similarly were.

 

“I suppose it might, provided our dear Oracle and brother don’t prove to be impossible bores,” the prince replied smugly, unable to stifle a grin that Gilgamesh found absolutely infectious. There was some laughter, but it was peaceful, transient. Barely as much as the silence that reigned as fireworks from without the city began detonating colorfully within the sky. Of proud Lucian make.

 

Their neon blossoms lit the darkening sky, cheering erupting from the city’s din as Ardyn gradually came to rest his head on Gilgamesh’s shoulder, the Shield reciprocating with a soft sigh, resting his cheek amid molten red tresses that shone like flame in the firelight.

 

Yes, an adventure ahead of them awaited, indeed.


End file.
